This invention relates generally to vapor compression air conditioning systems. More particularly, the invention relates to the arrangement and configuration of the components of the indoor section of an air conditioner of the type commonly mounted in the window of a room.
The fundamental principles of the operation and construction of vapor compression air conditioning systems are well known in the art. In the typical window room air conditioner, all the components of the system are contained in a single enclosure. The enclosure has an inside section containing the inside refrigerant--to--air heat exchanger and an inside fan for circulating air from the room to be cooled or heated over that heat exchanger. The enclosure also has an outside section. The enclosure is configured so that air cannot pass between the inside section and the outside section. The outside section of the enclosure contains the outside refrigerant--to--air heat exchanger, an outside fan for circulating outside air over that heat exchanger, and usually, the system compressor. Other system components, such as an expansion device, controls and the like are located in either one section or the other as appropriate or desirable. The air conditioner is mounted in a window or other aperture in a wall of a room so that the inside section is inside the room and the outside section extends into the space outside the room.
Designers and builders of room air conditioners are constantly striving to increase the capacity and efficiency and reduce the size and cost of their products. One benefit of reducing the size, particularly the height, of a room air conditioner intended to be mounted in a window is that a lower profile air conditioner occupies less of the total area of the window opening and thus leaves more of that area available for light transmission and viewing.
Room air conditioners are commonly configured so that both the outside and the inside fans are mounted on a single shaft driven by a single motor. The motor shaft is parallel to the enclosure base and extends into both the inside and the outside sections. This configuration has cost benefits but, because an axial flow fan is the most effective type of fan for use in the outside section, imposes a practical lower limit on the enclosure height of an air conditioner of a given configuration and capacity.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/993,880 entitled Room Air Conditioner, filed on Dec. 23, 1992, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses an air conditioning system of the type adapted to be mounted in the window of a room. The arrangement and configuration of components mounted in the outside section of the system enclosure allow the vertical dimension to be minimized, so that the unit occupies a minimum of the total of the window area particularly in the vertical dimension. The amount of window area available for light transmission and viewing is thus increased over that which would exist if an air conditioner of the usual configuration were installed in the window. In that application, the outside section fan is of the axial flow type and has an axis of rotation that is generally perpendicular to the base of the unit and which is directly driven by a dedicated outside fan motor. The inside section of the system contains the usual refrigerant--to--air heat exchanger and an inside fan driven by a second dedicated fan motor.
A design incorporating the teaching of the above cited application has the benefit that the indoor fan, and the indoor section construction is not dictated by the single motor, two fan construction representative of much of the prior art. The design of an indoor section for use with such an air conditioner has been made wherein substantially all structural components are made from a plurality of integrated precision resin molded components. The design minimizes the number of components, facilitates ease of assembly and minimizes the number of separate fastener parts such as screws, clips or other similar fasteners.